Departmental Manpower

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many  (a) special advisers and  (b) press officers are employed by his Department at each Civil Service pay grade.

John Penrose: With regards to the number of special advisers employed by the Department, I refer the hon. Member to the list of special adviser appointments published by the Prime Minister on 10 June 2010,  Official Report, column 33-34W.
	The Department employs 11 press officers. The breakdown by civil service pay grade is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Grade  Number of press officers 
			 Grade A(1) 3 
			 Grade B(2) 8 
			 Total 11 
			 (1) Former Grade 6/7. (2) Former SEO/HEO/HEO (D) and equivalent grades.

Football

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will take steps to encourage each professional football club to allow a representative of a registered football supporters' trust to sit on its board of directors.

Hugh Robertson: While it is for the football authorities to run our national game, the Government will encourage The Football Association, premier league, and football league to work closely together to improve the governance and regulation of the national game. This includes exploring better ways to involve supporters in their local clubs.

Football: South Africa

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether  (a) he,  (b) other Ministers in his Department and  (c) officials of his Department will attend the World Cup in South Africa.

Hugh Robertson: I attended the England  v . USA match and travelled economy class on both legs of the journey. No officials attended. The Secretary of State will attend the England  v. Algeria match and travel economy class for both journeys. The Secretary of State will be accompanied by one official. I met with various members of the FIFA family during my visit to discuss England's bid for the 2018 World cup, one of the Government's top priorities for sport. The Secretary of State is planning to do the same.
	Should England progress to the quarter finals and beyond, as I very much hope they will, we will look again at what attendance is necessary.

Employment Schemes

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the budget for the Single Work Programme planned by his Department will be in 2010-11; and what the previously planned total expenditure on all current back-to-work schemes providing targeted assistance to benefits claimants seeking employment was for 2010-11.

Chris Grayling: The total budget set aside to deliver employment programmes in 2010-11 was £2,432 million. This budget has been adjusted in-year to reflect savings of £320 million announced as part of the Government's recently announced £6 billion efficiency savings, giving a revised overall budget of £2,112 million.
	The Government have committed to introducing the Work Programme in the first half of 2011. The Work Programme will be a single integrated package of support providing personalised help for everyone who finds themselves out of work regardless of the benefit they claim, and the budget will be set as part of the forthcoming Spending Review negotiations.

Employment Schemes: Lone Parents

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on training Jobcentre Plus personal advisers on the circumstances and needs of lone parents under the Single Work Programme.

Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Darra Singh:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the policy is on training Jobcentre Plus personal advisers in the circumstances and needs of lone parents under the Single Work Programme. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The role of Jobcentre Plus under the single work programme is not yet defined.
	However, the current learning routeway for Personal Advisers contains over 60 hours of learning specifically for dealing with Lone Parents. These events are delivered in a variety of training media including classroom facilitated events, open learning and e-learning.
	The learning includes modules on building customer commitment; building and maintaining lone parent networks; dealing with myths and stereotypes about lone parents; overcoming challenges and providing ongoing support in their transition to work.
	The learning also provides information on childcare and sources of financial help for lone parents.
	It is our intention to review and, if necessary, adapt this learning once we know more about the single work programme.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Employment Schemes: Voluntary Organisations

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of voluntary job clubs in helping people into employment.

Chris Grayling: Job clubs, such as those in Towcester and Brackley, offer local solutions to address unemployment which are led by local communities, organisations and voluntary groups.
	Where operational, they offer unemployed people a place to meet, exchange skills, make contacts, and find opportunities to help in their search for employment.
	Building on the job club model, the coalition Government has set out a clear commitment to support the development of local work clubs.

Future Jobs Fund

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice he has received from his Department on the  (a) efficiency and  (b) cost-effectiveness of the Future Jobs Fund; and if he will publish all such advice received.

Chris Grayling: The release of advice to Ministers would prejudice the free and frank provision of advice and the free and frank exchange of views for the purposes of deliberation and will not, therefore, be provided.

Defence Equipment: Sales

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the monetary value of receipts from the Disposal Services Authority has been in each year since 1993.

Peter Luff: Data on the monetary value of receipts from the Disposal Services Authority for the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Gross s ales  Direct costs of sales  Net s ales 
			 2005-06 61.4 27.2 34.2 
			 2006-07 99 43.5 55.5 
			 2007-08 88.6 37.4 51.2 
			 2008-09 88.1 41 47.1 
			 2009-10 62.5 33.2 29.3 
		
	
	Data prior to Financial Year 2005-06 is no longer available as this is the first full financial year that the Disposals Sales Agency was set up and transferred into the Defence Logistics Organisation (subsequently Defence Equipment and Support).

Defence Equipment: Sales

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the monetary value of receipts from the edisposals service has been in each year for which figures are available.

Peter Luff: Information on the monetary value of receipts from the website edisposals service is not recorded separately by the Disposal Services Authority (DSA). The items sold under edisposals are disposed of by contractors who also use other disposal routes. They are required to declare their total income to the DSA but not to breakdown the source of the sales .

Defence Equipment: Sales

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the monetary value was of goods sold to  (a) Government departments,  (b) non-departmental public bodies and  (c) other public sector organisations by (i) the Disposal Services Authority and (ii) edisposals in each year for which figures are available.

Peter Luff: It is not usual for the Disposal Services Authority (DSA) to dispose of MOD items to other Government departments because the items are generally of a military or specialist nature, or are unattractive because of their age or wear and tear. Exceptionally, however, during 2009-10, DSA sold surplus medical equipment to Portsmouth NHS Trust for the value of £630,435 during the financial year which ended on 31 March 2010.
	No other sales were made directly by DSA to Government departments, non-departmental public bodies or other public sector organisations.

Defence Equipment: Sales

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the annual operating cost of  (a) the Disposals Services Authority and  (b) edisposals has been in each year for which figures are available.

Peter Luff: Total operating costs from 2005-06 for the Disposal Services Authority (DSA), including e-disposals are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Financial year  Direct costs  Other  operating costs  Total  operating costs 
			 2005-06 27.2 15.1 42.3 
			 2006-07 43.5 20.4 63.9 
			 2007-08 37.4 7.1 44.5 
			 2008-09 41 3.1 44.1 
			 2009-10 33.2 6 39.2

Departmental Mobile Phones

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Ministers in his Department have been issued with  (a) a Blackberry,  (b) an iPhone,  (c) another make of mobile telephone and  (d) a personal digital assistant supplied by the Department.

Andrew Robathan: The Secretary of State for Defence has been issued with a Blackberry and the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology has been issued with a Nokia mobile telephone.

RAF St Athan

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to complete negotiations on the development of the Defence Training College at St. Athan.

Nick Harvey: The contract negotiations with the preferred bidder, Metrix, are ongoing. The core of the commercial deal is planned to be completed by the end of the year under current plans. This is important to the funding process because it will enable banks to examine the essential elements of the draft contract and hence support the process of due diligence. Work will continue until all aspects of the contract, including funding, reach an acceptable conclusion. I will update the House when negotiations are finalised.

War Pensions Committees

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future of the regional War Pension committees; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 15 June 2010
	The role of War Pensions Committees (WPCs) has evolved since they were established in 1921. To ensure they remained relevant for the current ex-service community it was decided to review the structure and function of the WPCs.
	The WPCs are now known as the Veterans Advisory and Pension Committees (VAPCs), and a pilot scheme is being established to assess an informal broadening of their role to include, most notably, support and advice in relation to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. On completion of the pilot, in June 2011, a full evaluation will be carried out and a decision on the future role of the VAPCs will be made.

Departmental Official Cars

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what her policy is on the use by Ministers in her Department of cars allocated from  (a) her Department's pool and  (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in her Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Cheryl Gillan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport on 14 June 2010,  Official Report, column 291W.

Prisons: Construction

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions she has had with Ministers and officials of the Ministry of Justice on the siting of a prison in North Wales.

Cheryl Gillan: I recently wrote to my hon. Friend the Minister for Prisons (Mr Blunt), outlining my strong support for the siting of a new prison in North Wales where there is currently a shortfall in the number of prison places.
	I understand that the Ministry of Justice is currently considering the various sites that have been recommended for a potential prison in North Wales. I will work closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Justice to ensure that implications for Wales are fully taken into account in the decision process.

Carers: Finance

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake a review of the level of support provided to carers with particular reference to carers who are pensioners.

Paul Burstow: In the following months, the Government will be carrying out a "refresh' of the previous Government's Carers Strategy, focusing upon identifying the delivery of those actions that will have the greatest impact upon the lives of carers of all ages, including older carers. We will provide further details in due course.

Departmental Reviews

Andrew Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2010,  Official Report, column 137W, on Government departments: reviews, what reviews her Department is undertaking; and what the  (a) purpose and  (b) timescale of each is.

Richard Benyon: The Coalition Agreement sets out in detail the Government's future plans, including the key reviews it will be undertaking. DEFRA will bring forward detailed information about these reviews in due course.

Floods: Sandwich

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will request the Environment Agency to report on the status and timing of the commencement of work on flood defence measures for Sandwich, Kent.

Richard Benyon: The Environment Agency is developing two flood defence schemes for the towns of Sandwich and Deal. Construction is expected to start in 2012, subject to other priorities for funding at the time. Both schemes are planned to be completed by 2015.
	Basic information about all schemes can be found on the Environment Agency's website:
	www.environment-agency.gov.uk
	at:
	www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/planning/118129.aspx

Anguilla

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2010,  Official Report, column 96W, on Anguilla, what decision has been reached in the work which has been undertaken with the government of Anguilla on the amount that government may borrow in each of the next three years.

Henry Bellingham: I refer the hon. member to the answer I gave him on 8 June 2010,  Official Report, column 96W. No new agreement on Anguilla's borrowing over the next three years has yet been reached.

Departmental Official Cars

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the use by Ministers in his Department of cars allocated from  (a) his Department's pool and  (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in his Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Henry Bellingham: FCO Services, a Trading Fund of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office operates a small pool of vehicles and security cleared drivers used mainly for transportation of diplomatic bags and other classified material.
	No Ministers currently use this pool of vehicles.
	Ministerial use of such cars would be governed by the relevant guidelines set out in the ministerial code and would be based strictly on operational need. The make and model of car used and its country of manufacture would be dependent upon availability within the pool.
	In relation to the use of vehicles from the Government car pool, I refer the hon. Member to my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Transport's (Mike Penning) answer of 14 June 2010,  Official Report, column 291W.

Fire Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he plans to continue with the FireControl project; what assessment he has made of the effects of the project on  (a) the quality of service offered by control rooms and  (b) the staffing levels of control centres in (i) England and (ii) the West Midlands.

Bob Neill: The previous Government's FiReControl project has been subject to delays and increasing costs.
	We are looking closely at this project to establish what we can do to improve the situation. We are committed to ensuring value-for-money for the taxpayer, improving resilience and stopping the forced regionalisation of the fire service.
	We will carefully consider the implications of any decisions before announcing the next steps.
	Responsibility for providing an effective call handling and mobilisation service remains the responsibility of local fire and rescue authorities, including ensuring adequate staffing levels.

Local Development Frameworks

Laura Sandys: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will undertake a review of local development frameworks in light of the ending of regional spatial strategies.

Bob Neill: The Secretary of State has already signalled the Government's intention to revoke the regional spatial strategies and he has written to all local planning authorities and the Planning Inspectorate to remind them that this emerging policy is a material consideration in dealing with applications and appeals. We will be providing more details on our proposals and the implication of the abolition of regional spatial strategies, for local development frameworks soon but it is our intention that local authorities should be able to revise their local development framework to reflect this change.
	The coalition agreement also included a commitment to radically reform the planning system and give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape the places in which their inhabitants live. In the light of this we will review some elements of the local development framework system itself to ensure it reflects our policy on decentralisation and a simpler planning system.

Social Rented Housing: Finance

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2010,  Official Report, column 454, on affordable housing, whether the £170 million of funding announced by the Government for social rented housing is in addition to funding agreed by the previous administration.

Andrew Stunell: Given the unprecedented size of the budget deficit we have had to identify savings across Government. We have identified £6.2 billion of savings this year as announced on 24 May. As part of this Treasury identified some £500 million by recycling efficiency savings, and have used £170 million of this to safeguard delivery of social rented homes.
	The previous Government made commitments that were not fully and securely funded. This includes a total £780 million towards housing priorities including towards the Housing Pledge. In order to address this, and emphasising Government's commitment to housing provision, Government made £170 million available to safeguard delivery of around 4,000 otherwise unfunded social rented homes to start on site this year, protecting 3,500 jobs and prioritising provision for the most vulnerable.
	The HCA will not enter into any new or further commitments against its uncommitted budgets until the position is clarified at the Budget on 22 June. We are working with colleagues in HMT to secure the necessary funding at Budget and the HCA will continue with committed programmes as usual.

Advantage West Midlands

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people are employed by Advantage West Midlands; how many people compose the non-executive Board of Advantage West Midlands; and what the total cost to the public purse of payments to  (a) employees and  (b) Board members is to date.  [Official Report, 29 June 2010, Vol. 512, c. 3MC.]

Mark Prisk: The following tables show:
	
		
			  (a) Number of and cost of employees 
			   Number/£ 
			 Number of employees headcount (full-time equivalent (322)) 346 
			 Cost (£) 18,358,000 
		
	
	Staff numbers are as at the snapshot reference date 31 March 2010 and cost is for the financial year 2009-10. Costs for payroll employees are defined as pay bill i.e. salary, ERNICs and pension; and
	
		
			  (b) Number of and cost of board members 
			   Number/£ 
			 Number of board members (including chair) 15 
			 Cost (£) 231,412 
		
	
	Board member costs are from the 2008-09 financial year and include chair pension costs and board travel expenses. Board members now receive a remuneration of £8,666 per annum for minimum of two days per month with no pension entitlement.
	The chair receives a remuneration of £81,718 per annum for three days a month and receives a pension.
	Under the RDA Act 1998 an RDA board must have 15 members with the majority being business positions.

Apprentices

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many of the apprenticeship places announced since May 2010 are to be allocated to each region; and if he will make a statement.

John Hayes: Our announcement on 24 May that, of the £6.2 billion savings for 2010-11, a total of £150 million will be recycled to support capacity for 50,000 extra apprenticeship places demonstrates our commitment to high-quality skills.
	The Skills Funding Agency operates a national system to fund post 19 further education and training, there are no regional allocations. The expectation is that colleges and training organisations will look to make available additional apprenticeship places where there is local demand.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to expand the provision of broadband in rural areas.

Edward Vaizey: As stated in the coalition's joint programme for Government, we will seek to introduce superfast broadband in remote areas at the same time as in more populated areas. On 8 June, the Secretary of State for Culture, the Olympics, Media and Sport set out the Government's plans for ensuring the UK has the best superfast broadband network in Europe by the end of the Parliament. These plans include enabling access to existing infrastructure to reduce the cost of deployment. Further, the Secretary of State proposed three market testing projects schemes for superfast broadband in rural areas. The Secretary of State's full speech can be read at:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/ministers_speeches/7132.aspx
	As a first step towards this ambition, the Government are also committed to making a service level of 2Mbps available in towns and villages still without a basic level of access. The office charged with delivering this universal service commitment, Broadband Delivery UK, will be holding an industry event in July to provide further information on the approach to meeting the 2Mbps service commitment and the market testing schemes.

Immigration Cases: Appeals

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, at what proportion of general immigration cases the Secretary of State has not been represented at appeal stage in the last 12 months; and what steps the UK Border Agency takes to protect children in such cases.

Damian Green: The representation rate at all appeals heard in country The representation rate at all appeals heard in country is currently 69% up to June 2010.
	We can identify certain types of appeal case involving children from our database e.g. unaccompanied asylum seeking children. We are not able to identify from the database all types of cases. We aim to represent the Secretary of State at all asylum cases and usually achieve between 90-95% representation rate.
	Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 requires the Home Secretary to make arrangements to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. To this end statutory guidance has been issued to UKBA staff on how to apply this duty and training on identifying child welfare and protection issues is provided for staff whose work involves decisions that affect children.
	UKBA has appointed a Children's Champion who is responsible for advising the Chief Executive and UKBA Board on all issues to do with child welfare and child protection.

Police: Manpower

Alan Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely change to the number of police officer posts following the changes to her Department's budget announced on 24 May 2010.

Theresa May: holding answer 15 June 2010
	Decisions about the number of police officers, police community support officers and other police staff engaged by each force are matters for the relevant chief constable and police authority.
	The Home Office has protected the front line by finding most of the savings needed from its own budgets and those of its non-departmental public bodies. As I said in my written ministerial statement on 27 May 2010,  Official Report, columns 12-16WS we are confident that the savings which amount to less than 1% of expected spending in 2010-11 can be made while maintaining a front line policing service. It is for each chief constable to use their expertise and decide what makes most sense for their force, but we are clear that the savings can be achieved by driving out wasteful spending on support functions, reducing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency in key functions; leaving the front line strong and secure.

Departmental Official Cars

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his policy is on the use by Ministers in his Department of cars allocated from  (a) his Department's pool and  (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in his Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Mitchell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport on 14 June 2010,  O fficial Report, column 290W, on departmental official cars.

Departmental Official Cars

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the use by Ministers in his Department of cars allocated from  (a) his Department's pool and  (b) the Government car pool which are manufactured in the UK; whether Ministers in his Department are entitled to request the use of a car manufactured in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Penning) on 14 June 2010,  Official Report, columns 290-91W.

Prison Sentences: Wales

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many men of  (a) between 15 and 17,  (b) between 18 and 20 and  (c) over 20 years were sentenced to custody by courts in Wales in the last 10 years.

Crispin Blunt: The requested information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Males sentenced to a custodial sentence( 1)  in Welsh criminal justice areas( 2) , by age, 1998  to  2008 
			   1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 3,4) 
			  Immediate C ustody
			 Age 15 to 17 443 481 424 369 368 349 380 323 373 269 261 
			 Age 18 to 20 1,073 1,155 1,077 1,134 1,055 906 1,002 890 852 838 832 
			 21 and over 4,054 4,262 4,074 4,197 4,404 4,062 4,396 4,162 3,734 3,697 4,125 
			 Total 5,570 5,898 5,575 5,700 5,827 5,317 5,778 5,375 4,959 4,804 5,218 
			 
			  Suspended Sentence Order
			 Age 15 to 17 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Age 18 to 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 292 393 367 
			 21 and over 219 207 181 203 173 160 177 553 1,766 2,239 1,913 
			 Total 219 207 181 203 173 160 177 598 2,058 2,632 2,280 
			 n/a = Not applicable. Suspended sentence orders are only available for offenders aged 18 and over. (1) Includes both immediate and suspended custodial sentences. (2) In this table sentences at the Crown court are categorised according to the police force that prosecuted the offence which is not necessarily the area of the sentencing court. Sentences may be given at a court outside the prosecuting police force's area. Those prosecutions brought by agencies other than the police are categorised according to the criminal justice area of the sentencing court. As part of the rollout of the Libra case management system in magistrates courts during 2008, a change was made to the categorisation by area. Sentences given at courts using the Libra system are categorised according to the criminal justice area of the court while others are categorised in the same way as the Crown court. By the end of 2008, all magistrates courts were using Libra. Police forces do not prosecute minor offences (those that are sentenced at magistrates courts) outside their areas. Only around 0.01% of sentences at magistrates courts were affected in 2007 and 2008. (3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July, and August 2008. (4) Following the introduction of the Libra case management system during 2008, offenders at magistrates courts can now be recorded as sex 'Not Stated' as well as 'Male', 'Female', or 'Other'. In 2008 1.5% of offenders sentenced were recorded as sex 'Not Stated'. Direct comparisons by gender may be no longer be valid.  Notes: 1. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. 2. This data has been taken from the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings database. This data is presented on the principal offence basis. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed. Where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.  Source: Justice Statistics-Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice